


The Exiling of Bridget Grieve

by anotherfirename



Series: 13th Age Stories [1]
Category: 13th Age (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Gen, something i wrote for my 13th age character years ago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-12
Updated: 2014-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:35:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28410255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherfirename/pseuds/anotherfirename
Summary: How Bridget Grieve, newly broken and changed, is driven from her home.
Series: 13th Age Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2080800





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posting this from my tumblr for posterity.

“Where are you going?” Caitlin asks as she hops after her older sister. “Can I come?”

On a rainy day she would jump in puddles, but in the heart of summer she can only pretend. Bridget ignores the young girl and continues to cross the dusty yard to the chicken pen where she climbs over the wooden fence. The chickens are known to swarm even strangers in anticipation of food, but instead they cower at the far side of the pen and cluck loudly as they press themselves against the fence. 

“What are you doing?” Caitlin asks as she sticks her legs between the slats and hangs off the outside of the fence. 

Bridget doesn’t answer but slips off her boots before crouching down and placing both hands on the ground. She stares at the chickens as she creeps towards them, and the birds’ panic increases with every step. Then she pounces and pins down one of the chickens as the rest scatter across the yard. The crunch of the chicken’s skull as Bridget crushes it with her teeth is drowned out by frantic squawking and Caitlin’s screaming.


	2. Chapter 2

“Should we be worried about the rest of the chickens?” Declan asks from the relative safety of the fence. “Like, is she going to eat them too?”

Bridget sits against one of the coops and licks blood from her arms while the remaining chickens jostle each other in a fruitless attempt to flee the pen. The only remnants of their fallen companion are bloodstains and feathers. 

“She’s scaring me,” Caitlin whimpers, prompting Declan to bend down and pick her up. 

“It’s okay, little rabbit,” he says. “Bridget wouldn’t hurt us. But you know, Colin is the oldest. He should go talk to her.” 

As Declan says this Colin is already climbing the fence into the pen. He slowly approaches Bridget with his hands held in front of him as a sign of harmlessness. 

“Bridget?” he says. “Are you okay?” 

“Was hungry,” Bridget says without looking up. “Good now.” 

“Oh. Okay. But you know it’s better to let them lay eggs before you eat them.” 

“Picked a sick one.” 

“I guess that’s…better. Are you going to come out now? You’re scaring the other chickens.” 

Bridget looks over at the flock of terrified chickens and then back at her brother. She nods, stands up, and picks up her boots before following Colin out of the pen. There’s still blood on her clothes, on her hands, and around her mouth. Declan can’t quite look directly at her and Caitlin hides her face against her brother’s shoulder. 

“Should we tell dad?” Declan asks when Bridget puts down her boots and starts to lick blood off her hands. 

“Not yet,” Colin says. “You know how he can get. Let’s just keep this a secret for now and blame the chicken on a fox. It’s just the one chicken, right?” 

Declan frowns but nods in agreement. Then, when Bridget runs her tongue along her arm, he flinches and looks away.


	3. Chapter 3

The cow’s belly is split open and its entrails spill onto the grass. Jack raises his gun to aim at the small figure crouched halfway inside the bloody cavity. In the darkness of night he can’t make out what the creature is, but everyone knows that there are fair folk living in the Wild Wood that surrounds their village. Sometimes they emerge from the woods, and when they do they bring nothing but death.

“No!” Colin shouts as he runs across the field, his presence heralded by the bobbing light of the lantern in his hand. 

Jack startles but holds his fire and waits for the boy to approach. Squinting through the darkness he can make out Colin’s father Brian in the distance. 

“Jack, I know this’ll be hard to believe,” Brian says once he’s close enough, “but that’s our daughter.” 

“That thing’s Caitlin?” Jack says. 

“Bridget. Look, I’ll pay for the cow and clean up this mess first thing in the morning. This doesn’t have to get ugly.” 

“I saw her take down that cow with my own eyes. Just tore it right open and started eating before it even stopped breathing. I don’t know what’s going on, but that’s not your daughter anymore. That’s something else entirely.” 

Meanwhile Colin has pulled his younger sister away from the cow and now has his arms wrapped around her as if daring Jack to try and shoot her now. Bridget doesn’t fight or struggle in her brother’s hold, but her she watches with wide eyes that shine unnervingly in the low light of the lantern. Jack looks at the siblings and lowers his gun. 

“That’s not your daughter,” he repeats. “And if this keeps up I’m going to take it to the rest of the town.”


	4. Chapter 4

“It’s that stupid pillar’s fault!” Colin shouts. “All that magic spilling out and it’s making Bridget act a little weird. It’s nothing new. We’ve seen it before.”

“That is not your sister out there!” his father shouts back. “That is some fair folk monster that killed Bridget and took her place. Don’t let it fool you.” 

Brian sits at the small kitchen table. His oldest child stands on the other side, his hands curled into tight fists. Less than an hour ago his wife took Caitlin and Declan to the village square under the pretense of running some errands. After the incident with the cow Bridget was locked in the storm cellar. She’s been in there for just over a week now with food and drink hastily tossed in twice a day. 

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Colin says. “Why would the fair folk want to live with us? They hate people. They even hate each other.” 

“Who knows what any of them want? But we asked around and this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. The best we can do is cast it out before it’s too late.” 

“What about the druids? They must know something.” 

“The druids don’t care about us. To them a patch of moss is more important than a human life. They’d tell us to raise that thing and the risks be damned. No. We’re sending it back into the Wild Wood where it belongs, and that’s that.” 

“This is wrong. You know it’s wrong. Let me take care of her. She was doing better until you threw her into the cellar.” 

Brian sighs and rubs his eyes with one hand. 

“You think this isn’t hard on me too?” he says, but gentler this time. “I can’t save Bridget, but I will do everything to protect the family I have left. And what if it really is Bridget? You know it won’t be long before others find out and start taking things into their own hands. This is for the best, Colin. I just hope you’ll understand one day.” 

Colin’s knuckles turn white as he clenches his fists tighter in an attempt to hold back tears. Before his father can see him cry he turns and leaves the house, slamming the door behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

Colin kneels before the storm cellar entrance and presses his ear to the wooden trapdoor.

“Bridget?” he says through the small gaps where the old wood has splintered and warped. “Can you hear me?” 

Bridget doesn’t answer but Colin can hear something scraping around in the darkness. 

“Dad says you’re not really my sister,” he continues. “He says you’re just something that replaced her, and I know that’s not true but I have to make sure.” 

He rests his head against the door and closes his eyes. 

“Do you remember what I told you? Do you remember my secret? I only ever told Bridget so if you’re her then you know what it is.” 

He waits and listens to the silence. He almost gives up when there’s no answer, but then he feels her breath against his ear. 

“Lucy’s pretty,” Bridget says, her voice quiet and muffled, “and you’d kiss her if she let you. But you’d kiss her brother too if he let you.” 

Colin starts to laugh first, but then he starts to cry. 

“Bridget,” he says. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”


	6. Chapter 6

None of the siblings were meant to watch Bridget being cast out. Their parents conspired to do it in the dead of night so that they wouldn’t upset their remaining children. Except Colin stayed awake and was watching from the bedroom window when a small figure was chased out into the darkness of the Wild Wood. Colin didn’t sleep for long before waking up early to go searching, but he never found her. If his parents knew where he went that morning they never said.


	7. Chapter 7

Half a year later in the dead of winter the two brothers go out hunting in the woods. The family needs meat and furs to survive the winter, but their father is too sick. Luckily Colin is old enough to go on his own now, and Declan has already started learning. So the two boys were bundled up and sent out into the Wild Wood.

“Declan,” Colin whispers, holding out an arm to stop his brother from moving forward. 

A squat creature, only a few feet tall, with scars etched into its gnarled green skin crouches before them. It uses its hooked claws to tear open a rotten log in search of grubs. To be caught by a fair folk is almost certain death, and these days they are all too common in the woods. Colin grips his hunting rifle, and Declan stifles a whimper. The fair folk stops, sniffs the air, and hisses as it scrambles around on all fours to face the boys. It looks at them with sickly yellow eyes and opens its mouth to reveal rows of jagged teeth. 

“Get out of here, Declan,” Colin says as he raises his gun to aim it at the fair folk. “Run!” 

The fair folk screeches as it charges on all fours towards the boys. Declan takes off running back to the village while Colin stands his ground. He shoots the fair folk and the impact is enough to knock it to the ground. Blue-black blood spills from the fair folk’s torso but it stands up anyway. Colin shakes as he takes careful steps backwards. He knows it’s too late for him to run, but he takes solace in the fact that his brother escaped. He prepares to fire again, but then a creature drops from the trees and onto the fair folk. It uses its larger size to pin down the fair folk long enough to bite into its shoulder and tear away a chunk of flesh. The fair folk screeches in pain and claws at the creature until they have no choice but to part. Colin knows he should run, but the creature is too familiar for him to look away. The creature crouches on all fours and bares its teeth as the fair folk hisses back. They begin to circle each other, but then the wounded fair folk turns to run deeper into the woods. The creature makes no move to chase after it. 

“Bridget,” Colin whispers. 

Bridget stands up and looks at her older brother. She is naked despite the winter cold, and her long hair is tangled and matted with dirt and blood. She looks less human now with wide golden eyes and sharp teeth, but to Colin she is unmistakably his little sister. Slowly he places his gun on the ground and kneels beside it. He holds his hand out to her. 

“Bridget,” he says. 

The girl approaches cautiously but allows her brother to rest a hand against her cheek. 

“I was so worried,” Colin says as he fights the urge to pull her into his arms. 

Then something rustles in the bushes, startling the siblings. Bridget sniffs the air and bares her teeth. 

“Run,” she says, and without another word she takes off and vanishes into the bush. 

Colin picks up his gun, considers chasing after her, but ultimately takes his sister’s advice. As he runs back to the village an inhuman screeching follows him out of the woods.


End file.
